-Able -Ible spellings rule?

11 Plus English - Preparation and Information

Moderators: Section Moderators, Forum Moderators

Post Reply
Azure
Posts: 107
Joined: Thu Apr 04, 2013 9:19 am

-Able -Ible spellings rule?

Post by Azure »

Please is there a rule for which one it ends with able or Ible? Dc not happy with these words :(
tvgirl
Posts: 56
Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2015 9:18 pm

Re: -Able -Ible spellings rule?

Post by tvgirl »

There is! :D :D

If the root word can stand on it it's own it is "able" (i.e. "able to stand alone"). If you have to change the root word then it is ible. E.g. defence is defensible because the root word changes (defens cannot stand alone)...

HTH
Y
Posts: 463
Joined: Mon Mar 12, 2007 12:49 pm

Re: -Able -Ible spellings rule?

Post by Y »

I got rather excited when I saw this (being a bit of a spelling nerd), but it doesn't quite work. This website is very useful for searching for words by their spelling:
http://www.morewords.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
and if you put in *ible and *able you get a helpful list of words (though many of them are rather beyond me, and certainly they are beyond 11+).
A couple of examples that don't quite work - corruptible, disputable.

It may be that the rule is a useful guide - I haven't been through to see the balance of it works/it doesn't work.
tvgirl
Posts: 56
Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2015 9:18 pm

Re: -Able -Ible spellings rule?

Post by tvgirl »

Y wrote:I got rather excited when I saw this (being a bit of a spelling nerd), but it doesn't quite work. This website is very useful for searching for words by their spelling:
http://www.morewords.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
and if you put in *ible and *able you get a helpful list of words (though many of them are rather beyond me, and certainly they are beyond 11+).
A couple of examples that don't quite work - corruptible, disputable.

It may be that the rule is a useful guide - I haven't been through to see the balance of it works/it doesn't work.
Hi yes, I should have said that it is a guide. It will work for most but as always with the good old English language there are some exceptions...
Post Reply
11 Plus Platform - Online Practice Makes Perfect - Try Now